Post-game notes, quotes

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES
March 18, 2010 – New York Rangers 3, St. Louis Blues 4 (Game #71, Home #38)· The Rangers were defeated by the St. Louis Blues, 4-3, tonight at Madison Square Garden, in their second and final meeting of the season. The last time the Rangers and Blues played twice in a season was 2002-03 (0-1-1).
· The Blueshirts have posted a record of 31-31-9 (71 pts.) on the season, including a 15-17-6 (36 pts.) mark at home.
· The Rangers now own a .641 winning percentage all-time vs. the Blues (74-38-16-0), which ranks as the third highest winning percentage against an opponent in franchise history behind San Jose (.722%) and Vancouver (.688%).
· New York tallied one power play goal in five attempts, and have now registered seven goals in 31 attempts over the last eight games (22.6%). In the last nine games at MSG, the Rangers have notched 11 goals in 39 power play opportunities (28.2%).
· Marian Gaborik notched one goal and added two assists for his team-high 23rd multi-point performance of the season, and his eighth game with three-or-more points. He has now registered seven points (two goals and five assists) in seven games since returning from injury on Mar. 6 at Washington.
· Rangers defenseman Wade Redden tallied one goal and added an assist on Gaborik’s first period goal. He has registered 10 of his 14 points at MSG. Redden’s goal at 7:11 of the third period was his 450th career point.
· Alternate Captain Ryan Callahan notched the Blueshirts’ first goal of the game with a power play tally at 5:52 of the first period, and led the team with five hits in the contest. He has now registered three points (two goals and one assist) in the last three games.
· Olli Jokinen recorded one power play assist and registered three hits in the contest. The Rangers power play is now 13-of-57 (22.8%) since Jokinen was acquired from Calgary on Feb. 2, and he has been on the ice for 10 of the 13 goals, registering six power play points (one goal and five assists) over the span.
· Alternate Captain Vinny Prospal registered one assist and led the team with four shots on goal. He has now recorded five points (three goals and two assists) in the last five contests.
· Brandon Dubinsky recorded an assist on Redden’s third period goal, and logged 20:08 of icetime. He has now reached the 20-assist plateau for the third straight season.
· Dan Girardi led all skaters with five blocked shots and logged 20:42 of icetime. He entered tonight’s contest tied for seventh in the NHL with 151 blocked shots on the season.
· The Blueshirts’ next practice is scheduled for Saturday, Mar. 20 (11:00 a.m.), at the MSG Training Center.
· The Rangers will return to action on Sunday, Mar. 21, when they face-off against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden (12:30 p.m.), in a matinee matchup between Original Six opponents; the game will be nationally televised live on NBC and can be heard on 970 The Apple.POST-GAME QUOTES
John Tortorella on the playoff race… “We get ready to play another game. They are not down. There is no sense of being down. It is just a matter of playing another game and trying to win.”Henrik Lundqvist on bouncing back for Sunday’s game in Boston… “That is the only thing we can do right now as a team and as an individual. We know we can play well. I know I can play well. It is very disappointing to be in this position, but we have to stay positive and try to turn this thing around.”Ryan Callahan on tonight’s game… “I thought we competed well. I thought our work ethic was there. We got a lot of pucks to the net; we were crashing the net; we had a lot of opportunities. If we can bring that into Boston right off the start I think we will be good.”

39 Comments

Thanks for getting this up tonight, carp. Wasn’t sure you’d be posting again tonight.

Do wish you went the other direction with the Callahan quote, though. Instead of the optimistic Callahan, I would’ve liked the “holding myself accountable Callahan.” (I know I’m nit-picking, but that’s just what I do haha).

“It’s just tough. We scored in the third to tie it up and then unfortunately I lost my man on that last goal and I’ve gotta have him. We were battling for position as he was going to the net and I lost my balance.” – Cally

Maybe not a tough team to do this for, but he is DEFINITELY my favorite Ranger.

This is why he is considered overrated. How can you play like that, at this stage of the year? Makes no sense.

Complete embarrassment of a game, not just by him, but by a the majority of the team.

Absolutely pathetic.

But, it’s kind of funny. When i started rooting against NYR, they won, and now that I’m rooting for them, they’re losing. I’m gonna continue to root for them, in hopes that they’ll lose every game so we can get a great position in the draft.

REPOST
Hello Ranger Fans! Tonight is Blueshirt Blues night and John Davidson is in town. We had a little chat before the game. He’s talking about writing an expose on the Rangers during the Sather Era. Hey Mess! Messier! We have a turd in the punchbowl…

Muck! Where’s Muckler? In the bathroom again? He’s been slowing up a little bit lately, so I spiked his prune juice with some of that 5 Hour Energy drink. You should see how fast he goes now!

I wonder what the fans mean when the yell Fly-er Sa-ther? I played for the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins…

(singing) “Well, I never felt more like Singin’ the Blues ‘cause I never thought that Knicks ever lose” That’s Dolans new ringtone. I see he’s still in denial… Hey there, Big Guy! We did it! Another Sellout! Now you can get those diamond studded fur-lined Knicks Jerseys you’ve been pining for. How’d the Knicks do against the Celtics on St. Patrick’s Day? It’s that Irish luck eh? I’ve heard it’s a huge Boston Conspiracy. No, it’s a VERY reliable source… And, he thinks I’m a beautiful man! (click)

Torts! I love those one word inspirational messages you are using to get the team going. Structure. Consistency. Maturity. What a great idea! I have a few others you can try; Scratch, Demote, Waive, Release. See how they react to some of those….

This team definitely needs an award for the guy missing the entire net the most ( although they are all pretty good at it.)

I propose a Maggies Drawers award to the guy who has shot wide of the net the most.

(Now come on all you old Jar Heads and let these whippersnappers in on Maggies Drawers.) I admit it goes back to a pre hi -tech era when they did things the old fashioned way, but y’all remember it I’m sure.)

And I repeat for the zillionth time this year that this is the lousiest passing team I have ever seen. ( btw, Lundqvist was beaten twice over on shots that didn’t score but hit the post.) His reaction time this game was brutal to watch – it could actually have been much worse.

Was at the game last night (as usual), and you would NEVER know from watching this team play that they are in the middle of the playoff hunt. No sense of urgency, passion, whatever. The absolute worst was that AWFUL 5-on-3 power play “advantage”. Why doesn’t anyone shoot on the PP?

Going to Boston for the game Sunday – possibly the beginning of the end(?)

Good morning, everyone! Trying to stay positive, but it’s getting tough. And I’m a “glass half full” kind of person. Boston is really trying to surrender the 8th spot, but we don’t seem to have any desire to take it. From a STRUCTURE point of view- 5 on 3 was just that- no structure. They keep collapsing down low, looking for a perfect pass. Stay up at the blueline, take some shots, spread out the 3 defenders, make them tired. If they all down low, the 3 don’t have to skate much…

BEst part of last ngihts game was the extra loud FIRE SATHER chanting. LOVE IT

And just put us out of our misery already, thise season has been a nightmare.
There’s really nothing left to hope for, unless we squeak in and are 1 and done playoff, but we look nothing like a playoff team right now.

hoepfully this season is the last in the horrible, horrible tenure of Glen”Douceh Bag” Sather

Again die retire or get fired, pick one Sather, any choice will make thousands of fans exstatic

Coach Beeblebrox here, gotta give it up to the boys for blowing yet another game. Captain Dreary was especially immature tonight with that pass/giveaway/gift that he handed to Mr. “I have not scored a goal in 2,143 games” Walker.

Loond-kveest was not very good either. He’s gotta stop that shot by Erik “The Jackel” Johnson.

Nice to see Rozsival beech slapped on several occasions but Backes. Does DB has some vendetta against the Rosy one? He was killing him all night.

Redden with his first goal in 58 games? So basically we paid about $3.3 million per goal on that deal. Nice one Slats!

Henrik Lundqvist on bouncing back for Sunday’s game in Boston… “That is the only thing we can do right now as a team and as an individual. We know we can play well. I know I can play well. It is very disappointing to be in this position, but we have to stay positive and try to turn this thing around.”

True, Hank was awful. And couldn’t have picked a worst time to be awful. But that’s gonna happen, you gotta allow the guy a mulligan once in a while. What it really shows you is what EVERY game would be like if we didn’t have him. Can all the guys calling for a Hank trade live through that night in and night out?

I’m getting sick of hearing about work ethic and battle level and competing hard and bouncing back in the next game. I know it’s the cliche of all professional athletes, but a season’s worth of it from these guys and it just rings hollow now. Sure would be nice for one of them to say something original for a change.

Assuming those responding on this site are “really” Rangers fans, I’ll chalk your criticism of Henrik to frustration with how the season has gone. For anyone who’s watched his play regularly & feels he’s overrated, better get a hold of “Hockey for Dummies”. If anything, Lundquist’s overall play has spoiled you. I doubt there is any goaltender in the League who has faced more opposition shots when it’s just the shooter & goalie. How many of this year’s wins are primarily because of his play? While Marc Staal is a strong “shut-down” defenseman, he is not a “crease clearer”, NYR doesn’t have one, and the team’s defensemen are not the 1979 Canadiens. Teams are not going to win in the the NHL without an elite goalie. Who would you rather have then Lundqvist? Ryan Miller is having a better year than Henrik, but you’d be hard pressed to find a goalie who’s been as consistently strong & carried his team like Lundqvist has over the 5 years he’s been here. His record is 170-108-42, all while playing behind a mediocre to poor team in front him.

Right now I think the odds of the Rangers dropping down to challenge Toronto for the bottom of the Eastern Conference are actually very good.

Think about it…

Hank looks spent. A season of desperately trying to cover up the mistakes of a shitty team in front of him has broken him. I don’t think he has anything left.

Tortorella doesn’t have a damn clue about ANYTHING. He’ll lash out and attack everyone around him…which means with the playoffs an impossibility I don’t see anybody on this roster looking to help the Little Dog save face.

An atrocious defense that couldn’t stop an ECHL offense.

An atrocious offense that couldn’t score on an ECHL goalie.

Maybe I’m reading too much into it…But I start to get the feeling this team has not only tuned out Tortorella they’re now turning against him. How else to explain back to back to back to back passionless efforts from a team supposedly in the playoff hunt?

They know now the playoffs are likely out of reach…I don’t think there are enough players on this team to care to break a sweat during the final stretch.

Hank was as good as any burned-out goalie could be, vs. St. Louis. I didn’t see one other complaint here in December or in January when Torts was pushing Hank like 95 in a 55 zone. There is no payoff, short-term or long-term for burning out an athlete. What the puck is the matter with coaches who act like players are machines? No matter who is the back-up goalie the Rangers will never use him about 25 times in the regular season, as they should.

Imagine if Hank were the most rested goalie in the NHL, right now, and the Rangers were in the playoffs? A hot goalie at the right time can make a team look twice as good as it really is. Instead, he is STALE as hell, and no doubt counting the days til this season’s madness is over.

Bet he opts out of here when it is his turn to walk – for a better organization, not necessarily for more money. The Rangers are the worst team in the league when it comes to handling players. They expect too much of some, and not enough of others. AHL caliber D’s are never dumped. Fourth line muckers get ice time in crunch time vs. the Crosby lines of the world. The top goalie is asked to carry a super-human workload. The captain of the team rarely if ever goes to the boards, blocks a shot, or takes the body, yet he is retained as the captain when it is obvious he lacks leadership skills, has ability shortcomings, and lacks intangibles (as in inspiration.) A more dull and docile NHL captain I have never seen. (Where have you gone, Fats Delvecchio?) Not to mention his lack of productivity. He should dive into the pizza business full-time, and spend his working hours passing out promo leaflets on the sidewalk. (That would over-match him, too.)

I do think this team will put forth a decent effort and get decent results in Boston on Sunday. First of all, in both basketball and hockey, the road teams do exceptionally well in day games, and just seem to have a better mental approach to the irregular game time, than the home team players. Also, the best tonic for this team is playing away from the cancerous environment of Madison Square Garden. Too many ho-hum spectators who don’t know what an offsides whistle is for. At least in Boston they generate some enthusiam for the home team, which may be catching for both teams.

There’s probably no one here who was more critical of LQ in his early years than I was. That was due largely to his insistence on “goaltending from his knees” – a very poor glove, and giving up one rebound after another often while sprawling helplessly on the ice in many instances. He also failed to consistently seal off the side pipes. I recognized right away his exceptional athleticism, but felt that he was sorely lacking in basic fundamentals of the position, and also wondered what good the G man coach was doing for him. But since then he’s been a tower of strength on this team, and has done yeoman work at shoring up a dis functional organization. He’s made great strides at improving his weak points ( although I would dearly love to see him work that stacked pad slide to his repertoire, because he’s still badly at the mercy of any attacker who can swing him.)

He’s a gamer night, in night out, behind a large group of
adolescent players many of whom are already long in the tooth. No matter what happens from here on in, …you cannot put any legitimate blame on him. There are goal tenders in among your group who know exactly what I’m referring to. LQ will deteriorate only when his athleticism fades on him.